The Pullman City Council’s Tuesday night meeting included discussions on stormwater and College Hill renovations.

The city recently mailed stormwater fee bills to Pullman residents. Public Works Director Mark Workman said he suspects this may be the first time some residents hear about the fee.

City Supervisor John Sherman said the city hopes to get a deferral on the five-year timetable for stormwater. There will be a hearing in Moses Lake on April 22 regarding the issue, with a workshop and a public hearing included.

Councilman Barney Waldrop reminded the council that restrictions like this will only get stricter as time passes. He said Spokane is getting the nation’s strictest ban on dishwater soap, with the entire state of Washington getting it next year. Dust regulations are on their way, too.

“This is merely only the beginning,” Councilman Nathan Weller said.

The city council finished the meeting with a lengthy discussion on College Hill. Issues discussed included sidewalks, lighting, and the occurrences surrounding the College Hill issue since the council voted down the University District proposal on Feb. 24.

Since the U-District proposal was rejected, Mel Taylor, WSU director of Real Estate Operations and External Affairs, resigned from the Pullman Planning Commission, and the Cougar Choice Housing program was put on hold due to budget constraints.

Workman said the city has several sidewalk improvement programs in place, including ones to remove tripping hazards and fill gaps in the sidewalks. He also said the scope of the sidewalk problem is far too big for the city’s budget to handle at once.

“I think we have a pretty good program, at least it’s a predictable program,” he said. “What we found is that the scope of the problem is so huge that we really don’t have the money to address it all.” Workman also gave a report on College Hill lighting issues. He said the city has streamlined the process in communicating with Avista Utilities about broken lights.

“Avista’s been really good about taking care of those,” Workman said.

Weller said a very important facet of College Hill is student involvement. He referred back to student comments saying they did not know about certain committees they could serve on to tackle important College Hill issues. He recommended campus events publicizing the committees.

“It’s the students themselves not feeling that they’re involved,” Weller said.

Pullman Planning Director Pete Dickinson said he will continue to give the council updates on College Hill.

“We’re making good progress on these projects, and we’ll continue to give you frequent updates,” he said.